Summary Of Leonid Fridman America Needs Its Nerds
“How long can America remain a world-class power if we constantly emphasize social skills and physical prowess over academic achievement and intellectual ability?” Leonid Fridman uses this sentence to finalize his argument for why Americans should stop alienating its intellectual citizens. Fridman uses a few techniques to build his argument including word choice, factual based examples, and appeals to emotions. The text “America Needs its Nerds” could be very relatable for some people.
Luigi Vittatoe Professor Luke Leonard WRI1001 First Year Writing 2 October 29, 2015 Week 1 Discussion In Gerald Graff’s Hidden Intellectualism, he discusses the differences between street smarts and having intellectualism. He explains how these street smarts are just as important as doing well academically.
Over the years, there has been an ongoing debate about “street smarts” and “book smarts” throughout the world. Many people side with either or for their own personal reasons. Although “street smarts” has developed a poor reputation which pushes people to neglect the positive aspects of this particular way of learning. In the article, “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff evaluates the structure schools use to teach literature. He explains that intellect is not only found in the academic form of thinking.
A respected author John Green questions, "Why is being a nerd bad? Saying I notice you 're a nerd is like saying, ‘Hey I knows that you 'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you 'd rather be thoughtful of them be vapid, that you believe that there things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan and why is that?” Many people who are passionate about their studies question the same thing. Leonid Fridman wrote a passage “America Needs its Nerds” in order to raise concern that our society does not value intelligence. Fridman uses compare and contrast to get his point across to the readers.
America Needs Its Nerds, written by Leonid Fridman, expresses the country’s need for studious people. The United States look down on kids that would rather learn than play sports. Leonid argues that this anti-intellectualism idea is not good for the greater community. Without intellectuals the U.S. will not be as great as countries that value academics. Leonid Fridman uses motifs, hyperboles, and criticizing questions to support his argument on how nerds and geeks are essential to society.
In our society today, the terms “nerd” or “geek” are used derogatorily instead of used upliftinglyin an uplifting manner to those who are more serious about their studies or education. In today’s world especially, we are quick to judge based on appearance or what certain people’s interests may be instead of supporting them. In a passage from Leonid Fridman’s literary work titled “America Needs Its Nerds,” he discusses the present issue relating to “geeks” and “nerds” and the positive affect they could have on our nation if they are supported. Fridman expresses his stand on the issue through definition, contrast and appeal to emotion.
One of the sources he uses is by Dan6erous which says, “A+ this and… That’s all these people care about don’t they have lives damn nerds” (760). After he mentions this quote, he goes on to explain that intellectuals cannot have “normal social lives” because they are concerned about their school work and keeping up with their grades, therefore, they are anti-social and hated. Another source he uses is by ArCaNe which says, “Man how I hate nerds…if I ever had a tommygun with me… I would most probably blow each one of their…heads off” (759). These sources are not valid because they are just blog posts that these ignorant individuals posted, letting out their jealousy and anger on a computer screen. Another reason they are not reliable is because of their use of inappropriate language as well as the blog website, TalkingCock.com.
This quote demonstrates that certain people in this society are shunned out of society. This shows how their labels affect the way that people treat them. Nerd is a label that can
In this article by Gerald Graff, the issue of “street smarts” versus academic intelligence is debated. Graff wants to make a point to show how street smarts can be untapped sources for formal educational. In this article, he is trying to make a point in how these forms of knowledge are looked down upon, and thus ignored in a school setting. Because of these thoughts, he really wants to emphasize that intelligence isn’t as cut and dry as being able to do math, or know historical facts off hand. Graff shows that just because some students struggle with their academics doesn’t mean they are not smart in their own right.
In Gerald Graff 's essay “Hidden Intellectualism” starts of by talking about the stereotype of being so called “street smart” and and being “book smart” and how in school when you see someone who is street smart but doesn’t do go in school get a bad wrap. People look at them as a waste because they can’t apply there intelligences that they have and use it towards school, so people view them as not the right kind of smart because they are not a A student in school. Graff then goes on to say that maybe it is not the students that are the problem with how they do in school but maybe it is the school that have missed or overlooked the intellectual potential that kids with street smarts have. Graff also says that we only view the educated minds through schooling as the right way and schools and colleges look at kids who do not like school and don’t do well as anti-intellectual people.
Charlie’s new intelligence reveals how American society values intelligence and education. Charlie says, “I never knew before what it was like to be smart. Now that I am, I don’t like it” (Keyes, 72). This quote demonstrates how knowledge can show the inequalities and biases present in a society and culture, Charlie recognizes the pressure and expectations placed on people who get intelligence and education. Keyes uses verbal irony in this quote.
The reading "Hidden Intellectualism" by Gerald Graff reflects views on being "street smart" and "book smart." He explains that society tends to associate people who are intelligent on solely being "book smart" and performing well in academics, rather than being street smart. He goes on to further explain that students perhaps can be intelligent on topics that interest them. Graff opens up the reading by giving his own personal experience on feeling torn between trying to prove that he was smart yet fearing that he was overdoing it. He was trying to prove that he learned just as much about the real world by reading his sports books and magazines as he would have if he had read the classic works of literature like most students in school.
To conclude this analyzation of Mike Rose’s essay “Blue Collar Brilliance” and Gerald Graff’s essay “Hidden Intellectualism”, Mike Rose’s essay was more effective. He gave readers examples of real life scenarios to validate his point. He used rhetorical tools that would help the more academic successful audience. He also connected with the audience labeled as “Blue Collars”, with stories from his mother and uncle
The Rhetorical Analysis of the “America Needs its Nerds” The mental capacity is treated as a disadvantage in the America, despite the fact it already helped the country many times. This long-term problem became the main topic of the Leonid Fridman’s essay “America Needs its Nerds”. The work first appeared on January 11, 1990 in the New York Times as a part of the series “Voices of the New Generation”. The author spoke about the negative attitude the American society has to smart people and demonstrates it with the usage of words like “nerd” or “geek”.
“Hidden Intellectualism,” by Gerald Graff starts off with an older argument between being book smart and street smart. Throughout the reading, Graff uses his own life experiences to critique the education system today. Points made focus on the idea of overlooking the intellectual potential of those who come across as being, “street smart”. Different authors cited in the reading to show how to accept another’s different intellectual. However, we realize that people who come across as being intellectual weren’t always labeled as that.
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